


Guilt Tripping

by captainnperfecthair



Category: Iron Man (Movies)
Genre: Fluff and Humor, Gen, Iron Man 3, Post-Iron Man 3, Tony Being Tony, Tony Stark Has A Heart, in which tony is not a dad but he totally acts like one, stand-in dad Tony Stark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-15
Updated: 2015-06-15
Packaged: 2018-04-04 12:02:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,471
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4136748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/captainnperfecthair/pseuds/captainnperfecthair
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ten years after the events of Iron Man 3, Tony is forced by Pepper to attend another boring science convention. Bored out of his mind, he's about to call it quits when he runs into a certain potato-gun wielding kid who's now all grown up and still inventing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Guilt Tripping

                This has got to be one of _the most_ boring science conventions that Tony Stark has ever been to. And he’s been to so many that even Pepper has lost count, so you know that that’s really saying something.

                He didn’t even want to come here today. He wouldn’t have shown up if Pepper hadn’t lied and said she’d meet him there to keep him company as he toured the utterly uninspired works on show this time. Her inevitable betrayal should’ve been more obvious to him, but Tony was always a little blind when it came to Pepper; she made him weak.

So because Pepper is in some meeting that is supposedly far more important than keeping Tony entertained and in line at the convention, he’s here alone and stupendously bored. Tony wishes she wouldn’t keep herself so busy with a new pet project every week, but like hell if he’s going to say anything to her about it. She’s mostly busy because she’s running his business (at his request, no less) and doing a hell of a good job of it. And if he did say anything, then he’d get a lecture from her that had her face turning the color of her hair and his ears burning. It’d be hot for about two seconds before it just wound up being scary and making him want to take refuge far away. Like in Asgard…or maybe farther. Besides, those pet projects were for Pepper what tinkering and creating suits were for Tony.

Still, her betrayal stung, and the man made a mental note to show Pepper the full extent of his displeasure later. He’d already sent a couple dozen texts and left at least half as many voice messages on all the devices she owned, both private and work related, and had received nothing. The only thing worse than her not answering, though, was Happy not answering either when Tony tried to contact Pepper through him.

Damn, Pepper knew him far too well. But you know what? Fine. Tony will make the best of this.

                It comes as no surprise whatsoever as he tours the convention that none of the projects shown here are anything very interesting or advanced. Not to Tony, anyway. For a second, he even imagines that Hammer Industries could’ve come up something better—and then he nearly snorts with laughter at how absurd that thought is.

                Tony is about to give up on the displays entirely and go get a drink at the open bar—an absolute saving grace and the only redeemable feature of this godforsaken convention—when he comes upon what is definitely the most impressive display there (aside from the one he’s put together, of course).

                Tony can’t help but go a little wide-eyed at the sight of it before pointing a finger in its direction and, as if he actually has an audience listening to him, remarks, “Well, that is just—”

                “Awesome, right?” a voice interjects from behind, and Tony whips around to face the speaker.

                It’s some young kid in his twenties with sandy blonde hair, wide brown eyes, and a pompous little smirk on his face. The kid looks vaguely familiar, but Tony can’t quite place where he knows him from. Perhaps he’d been too drunk when they met to remember his name. Wait, no. He hasn’t been that drunk in a long time. So it looks like he’s going to have to just wait for the kid to say something that will hopefully jog his memory without Tony having to embarrassingly admit his shortcoming.  

                Unable to help himself and if only to see how the boy responds, Tony shrugs and plays off his reaction. “Actually, I was gonna say it was totally lame. I mean, come on. I bet it breaks the moment you try to turn the thing on,” he says before beginning to launch into a detailed explanation of everything wrong with this display—which is absolutely made up; and which the kid surely knows if he truly knows his stuff.

                The young engineer who Tony can only assume is the creator of the display frowns and interrupts him before he can finish. Hmmm. It seems his parents clearly haven’t taught him manners. “First of all, that’s bull; you’re making it all up. You can’t find a single flaw in it, can you?” God that little bastard looks smug. Pepper would probably say he reminds her of Tony. Ridiculous. “Second of all, you know me. You just don’t remember me, do you?” He folds his arms and gives Tony a knowing look.

Tony huffs and tries his best to sound indignant instead of clueless. “What? Of course I—“ He opens his mouth several times, as if a name will magically spring to mind and slip onto his tongue.

                “Figures,” the kid says with a roll of his eyes, but he looks like he expected nothing else. It reminds Tony of Pepper when she’s trying to debrief him about something or someone before an event or a meeting that he actually has to attend. There’s no spite, only annoyance. “I’m Harley Keener, remember? Ten years ago in Tennessee we shared an adventure and you changed my life.” As soon as he says his name, Tony makes the connection. So this is the clever but bratty little squirt he’d met all those years ago. Back when there was still shrapnel in his chest and a maddening desire to tinker away his post-New York anxiety issues.

                “Yup, it’s all coming back to me now. You got big, squirt,” he says with a fondness welling up inside of him that is typically reserved for the likes of Pepper Potts and James Rhodes. He reaches up and ruffles the boy’s hair, much to Harley’s chagrin.

“Ugh! Why you gotta touch the do, man?” Even as he shoots Tony a glare while doing his best to curb the damage, there’s affection in his voice and his expression. Once his hair has been fixed (like Tony really did any damage, anyway), Harley rubs the back of his neck and continues. “Not to sound creepy or anything, but ever since then I’ve always thought of you as the closest thing I had to a father.”

                The grin that spreads across Tony’s face is automatic. “You’re trying to guilt trip me.”

                Harley smiles and gives a little shrug. “It was worth a try.”

                They both let out a hearty laugh at that before Tony puts a hand on the young engineer’s shoulder and says, “Come on, I’ve had enough of this shitty convention. How about a beer? It’s on me.”

                Harley seems a little surprised, but masks his reaction rather well before he nods. “Well I definitely can’t pass that up. I was about to do that, anyway,” he says, and Tony senses that the kid was just as bored here as he had been.

                Realizing that they’d probably be harassed by others if they remained at the convention, they end up going to a bar right around the corner. One beer turns into several as the two of them sit by the window on the far left and easily slip into an animated discussion about the ten years that have passed, their shared interest in mechanics, their love for tinkering with things, and Harley’s work.

                The kid is brilliant and he’s got big plans, that much is clear. But Tony’s also able to tell quite clearly that there’s one thing stopping Harley that tends to stop so many great inventors from achieving their goals, and that’s money.

                Although Harley doesn’t outright tell him why he hasn’t been able to move forward with this big project of his that he shows Tony the blueprints for, Tony’s no idiot. After they part ways at the end of the day, Tony quietly makes sure that the kid gets all the funding he needs.

                But Harley’s no idiot, either, and despite Tony’s discretion he knows who is to thank for helping him make those blueprints come to life.

                Most people would show up at the man’s door to say thank you or shower him with their gratitude by sending gift baskets or whatever, but Harley doesn’t do anything of the sort. Instead, he just keeps putting forth new ideas and inventions, working towards becoming the next big name in technology after ‘Stark’. He knows of no better way to thank Tony Stark for all he’s given him except to show him what he’s doing with it.

                And Tony’s content to watch from the sidelines as Harley Keener makes a name for himself, unable to stop thinking back to that night ten years ago when some shaggy-haired kid got him back on his feet and showed him, if only for a night, what it was like to have a son.

**Author's Note:**

> Despite having written this, I maintain the headcanon that Tony plays a more active role in Harley's life. I think he'd keep in touch with Harley, maybe give him an internship at Stark industries when he's old enough, and watch him develop into an awesome engineer one day. I don't think he'd wait until ten years have gone by. 
> 
> I don't think Harley would've let that happen, either. He'd probably get Tony's personal number and then constantly contact him with all these engineering questions and stuff or just ask him how he's doing with PTSD or how he heard about the Hulkbuster (and driving Tony up the wall while he's at it while Pepper laughs in the background because this is how she feels like 98% of the time). And then when he was old enough Harley would ask for an internship right at the same time Tony thinks to offer it to him.
> 
> As you can see, I just have a lot of Harley and Tony feelings, okay?
> 
> Anyways, hope you enjoyed this little piece!


End file.
